User blog:Mochizou/Labyrinth Tower
Utopia. A unknown game yet known death trap. Over 15,000 people are now trapped in this world where the only chance of escape is defeating the game...possibly. From Rygen City, a small group have found themselves in this world, together they attempt to fight but for how long? '' 'Utopia.'episode 3.Labyrinth Tower'' July 21st 2019. Day 30. Floor 1. The Starter Town The journey to the Labyrinth Tower was long and arduous. A large group set off from the Starter Town at about 5pm and by 8pm they still hadn't reached the tower, where the floor's boss was waiting. They'd had to stop already along the way as they dealt with boards and wolves that jumped out from the fields. Kieran noted that he hadn't ventured this far out of the town since he'd been here, to him it was too dangerous while he was this low in power to venture out, there was only one town on Floor 1, there was no where else to gurantee safety. He was now Level 13 and certainly a lot stronger, his was more used to the set up now and how to access certain feature. However, there was still something so familiar about this game that he couldn't put his finger on. Would he ever work it out? Or was it just him being his usual self? 'Lizzy: '''I'm bored. I thought a boss battle was supposed to be exciting '''Katie: '''We haven't even got there yet '''Lizzy: '''I'm still bored and by the time we get to the freakin tower, I'm gonna be tired too '''Kieran: '''I see a month in this game hasn't dampened your sense of spirit '''Lizzy: '''HEY SHUT UP ''Kieran smiles 'Tori: '''I forgot how noisy you two can be when you're together '''Lizzy: '''I'M NOT THE NOISY ONE HE IS '''Kieran: '''You sure about that? ''The anger rising in Lizzy's face is obvious to all of them. It was a frustrated anger more than anything, Lizzy had a lot of care and time for Kieran, they were practically family now but he knew how to wind her up and that in turn made her angrier because Lizzy would then be even more frustrated that she knew he had that ability. It was an interesting aspect of their friendship and one that she secretly enjoyed 'Katie: '''Jeez, you guys are so loud. Didn't anyone teach you two how to behave in public '''Kieran: '''Lizzy missed that lesson '''Lizzy: '''I swear to god ''Kieran looks up to see Yazzy giggling. He's unsure why she's laughing 'Kieran: '''What's funny? '''Yazzy: '''Nothing, nothing. I just didn't know you had such a personality underneath '''Katie: '''Oof '''Yazzy: '''No no no I didn't mean it like that, it's just that you're usually so quiet and basically unheard of at school. I think it's kinda cute you know ''Yazzy goes red soon followed by Kieran who tries to hide his face in his shirt. Lizzy is stood there looking shell-shocked 'Lizzy: '''When did this become a thing? '''Yazzy: '''IT'S NOT A THING '''Lizzy: '''Sure '''Kieran: '''Shut up Lizzy '''Lizzy: '''You did not just say that ''Lizzy spins in a ultra-quick movement and draws her fist, raised and ready to strike the 17 year old standing in front of her but as she goes to move her fist forward she finds resistance. Lizzy turns to see that Tori has grabbed her forearm preventing her from swinging her fist. Lizzy looks on at Tori in anger, she had never been stopped from whacking Kieran when he'd offended her, and it was even more embarassing in front of others 'Lizzy: '''There better be a good reason for this '''Tori: '''We are about to face our first boss and you are about to beat seven hells out of one of the limited fighters we have '''Lizzy: '''I will get him for this '''Tori: '''I know...and you can, just not today ''The group continue walking until Sarah, the expedition's designated leader brings them all to a stop. She's found the entrance and now they're ready to enter. After stocking up on healing potions and ensuring that the right boosts are on, the expedition enters the tower. It's a large marbled room complete with tall overreaching archways and floors that glisten. Lizzy spots at the back of the room, a large set of stairs that she assumes lead to the boss room. 'Sarah: '''Follow me everyone and stay close ''The team slowly move through the tower. Lizzy, Katie and Tori keep close but Yazzy stops when she notices that Kieran hasn't moved since he entered the tower. She walks back over to him, increasing the distance between them and the group who are continuing to move. '' '''Yazzy: '''Kieran? '''Kieran: '''Something's wrong '''Yazzy: '''What do you mean? '''Kieran: '''Something's not quite as it seems, almost like we're '''Yazzy: '''Entering into a trap? '''Kieran: '''I just can't put my finger on it '''Yazzy: '''Come on, they're getting away ''Yazzy and Kieran begin to catch up to the group but suddenly they both sense danger 'Kieran: '''LIZZY LOOK OUT ''Lizzy turns her head but her vision of Kieran is cut short by the large growth between her and Kieran. On the floor, an object begins to grow and twist, growing taller and taller until it's over three times the height of Lizzy. Then it begins to take shape and forms into a large giant, it's only likeness to a human is the overalls it's wears but it's green skin and ogre face define it as a true giant. As it's shape settles, a large sword appears in it's hand and not one but two HP bars appear above it's head, indicating it's strength as a boss. '' '''Sarah: '''IT'S HERE! ''The group scramble into mismatched positions in order to strike. By the time they have created a front line of sorts, Kieran and Yazzy have already charged the giant. Kieran dives underneath the giant's legs sticking his sword out to attack it's inner leg, as his sword slides across the leg, it creates data sparks, it wasn't as much as he was expecting, but Kieran is able to knock down the HP of the giant. Yazzy follows suit with a combination of attacks that work to attack it's HP. Kieran watches in awe at her speed and skill with the sword. As Yazzy completes her attack, he runs in to take over but he takes a misstep and he's hurtled backwards by the full force of the giant's hand swatting him away. Kieran comes into hard contact with the wall, he knows instantly he's just lost some HP as he feels the blood trickle. He still couldn't understand how this game they were trapped in was able to generate blood when everything else would use data sparks but he put it down to a realism effect. '' ''The bump on his head though revealed something important. Kieran had been wondering for a while now how he felt a sense of familiarity with this world, right back to day 1 and now it hit him, he had played this game before. It had existed online and was a prototype for a VRMMORPG so Kieran hadn't experienced any virtual element of the game before. This world was not new to him and if he was right he knew how to defeat the boss. There had been talk of people that may have experienced similar games before this and potentially have advantages, they were called cheaters and shunned by the community, mainly becuase the 'cheaters' wouldn't share their knowledge, although they were justified in saying that their knowledge had no revelance on this game Kieran picked himself up off the floor in time to see Sarah and Lizzy launch a dangerous attack 'Kieran: '''WAIT STOP! DON'T GO FOR THE-- ''It was too late, Sarah and Lizzy launched a joint attack on the giant's torso but Kieran knew that the giant would be able to prevent a torso attack and Kieran could only watch as it swatted Lizzy away and grabbed Sarah in it's hand, crushing her in a fist. Kieran watched her HP drop straight into the red and she fell to the ground. Lizzy meanwhile was laying on the floor, her HP also in the red zone. Kieran rushed over to Sarah 'Kieran: '''Quick, take a healing potion '''Sarah: '''No, it's too late for me, save the potions on someone else '''Kieran: '''But you'll die! '''Sarah: '''It's ok. I never expected to survive this game, so I'm not saddened '''Kieran: '''But still! '''Sarah: '''Hey Kieran, before I go, answer me this. You called out for me to not hit the torso, how did you know that? '''Kieran: '''I-I- '''Sarah: '''Is it because you've had an experience with this game before? ''Kieran drops his head but Sarah smile 'Sarah: '''Don't let the others know, they'll alienate you, and that wouldn't be fair.....now go get that beast ''Kieran looks to see that Sarah's HP has reached zero, in an instant her body disappears into shards of data and vanishes leaving Kieran leaning down over nothing. He picks himself up and turns his attention on the giant. Lizzy, Tori, Katie and Yazzy are agressively fighting it alongside the others. He draws his sword and turns his attention on the giant. Using his anger, he throws himself into battle, slashing and slicing at the giant. With the help of the others, the giant's HP gradually drops and as it reaches zero, Kieran launces a final attack slicing the giant from bottom to top. As Kieran lands on his feet, the giant explodes into data shards A large sign appears above where the giant once stood, fireworks flash all around it. It reads 'Floor 2 Unlocked' and everyone cheers. Kieran looks down to see that not only has he leveled up to Level 14 but that he has also obtained a reward for having the last hit. '' '''Kieran: '''The Cloak of Midnight huh? ''Lizzy and the others come over 'Katie: '''That was amazing! '''Lizzy: '''Even if I did almost die, I loved it ''Kieran looks over to see Sarah's main party mourning her loss. One of them turns towards Kieran 'Hunter: '''How did you know that you couldn't attack the torso '''Kieran: '''I- '''Hunter: '''More importantly, why didn't you tell us before we started this attack '''Kieran: '''I didn't remember, I- I'd forgotten '''Hunter: '''Forgotten what ''The rage in Hunter's face is rising and Kieran is trying his hardest to keep his cards close to his chest. Suddenly, Hunter throws Kieran up against the wall 'Hunter: '''You've had something to do with this game before haven't you?! '''Lizzy: '''Hey! Back off of him! He hasn't seen this game before, just like the rest of us. ''Kieran picks himself up 'Kieran: '''He's right. I have played this game before '''Lizzy: '''Wait, what? ''Kieran has realised he can't escpae the situation and decides to take matters into his own hands. A life of solitude awaits him now, but that's okay, he'd rather be alone anyway 'Kieran: '''I didn't tell anyone because I thought I wouldn't need to. I'm a cheater, isn't that what you're all calling people who have experience with VRMMORPGs? '''Hunter: '''Why you? '''Kieran: '''Games change all the time, what's in the beta isn't always in the official release. I tried to warn Sarah about the attack but I'd hesistated and was too late. '''Hunter: '''You're a disgrace '''Kieran: '''Oh yeah ''He opens his inventory and puts the cloak on. A long black coat appears over his clothes and he turns and walks away from the group as well as his friends 'Kieran: '''See ya '''Lizzy: '''Hey wait! '''Kieran: '''I'll catch you later '''Lizzy: '''Where are you going, you can't leave me and the others, we need each other '''Kieran: '''You don't need me, you have the girls, you'll be absolutely fine. Besides it will be better for you to distance yourself from me, you don't want a reputation as someone who associates with cheaters '''Lizzy: '''That's not true! '''Kieran: '''I'll see you around sometime ''Kieran makes his way towards the stairs which he has now dedeuced lead to the second floor. His journey is stopped by a hand on his cloak 'Yazzy: '''You can't leave me '''Kieran: '''You'll be better off '''Yazzy: '''No I won't, I barely know the girld and I like working with you '''Kieran: '''There's so much of this game available to you, you just haven't see in yet '''Yazzy: '''We were supposed to do this together '''Kieran: '''I'll be better off on my own '''Yazzy: '''That's not true '''Kieran: '''You should join a guild. Your sword skills are something else, you'd be brilliant. '''Yazzy: '''Please be careful '''Kieran: '''I will and I'm sure our paths will cross again ''Kieran turns and leaves through the door leading to floor 2, leaving the others behind to make sense of the fatal battle and it's explosive aftermath Floor 11. December 21st 2019. Month 6. Deusolbert City In the six months since the game began, the players have now been able to clear 26 floors. There was no denying now that they truly were trapped in the game. Over the course of the last couple of months, the majority of players began to settle into the game. Some chose to establish themselves as merchants or blacksmiths, creating shops on available floors as close to the front line as possible. Some chose to remain at the Starter Town where they felt they were safer, while others there remianed as their way of denying the world that was clearly going nowhere. Then you had the fighters, those that chose to level up and help clear the game. There were two ways to do this, one was to go solo and level yourself up on your own, assist where possible and generally keep to yourself. The alternative, and by far the most common, was to join one of the many guilds that had formed. A guild could be consisting of a small group of players who mix their time between fighting and leisure or a large, structured guild that was devoted to clearing the game. These large guilds were highly organised and planned missions for quests as well as planning boss attacks for clearing levels. Between the two big guilds currently in operation, they had helped clear the last 15 floors in little over two months. The Knights of Red had established their new guild headquarters on the 25th Floor but today, one of their members had journeyed down to Deusolbert City on the 11th Floor to meet a old friend. Deusolbert was the closest city to the front line. It was filled with merchants, bars, hotels, restaurants as well as a few scattered houses, although most of these had now been sold as players moved to newer houses on the higher floors. '' ''As the favoured city for the clearers to upgrade their weapons and gather resources, Lizzy had bagged herself a bargain when she acquired her shop. She was a popular blacksmith, mainly becuase she continued to fight alongside the clearers of the game whilst running her shop. As Lizzy was polishing a long sword, she heard the bell of her shop door ring and looked up to see the Knight of Red, who had travelled to meet her, standing in the doorway 'Lizzy: '''You made it! '''Yazzy: '''It wasn't easy getting away tonight. They're planning the boss raid on the 27th Floor and I was almost caught up in the meeting '''Lizzy: '''If you had made me eat dinner by myself again I would have killed you '''Yazzy: '''Charming as ever '''Lizzy: '''I'm serious! I've had to eat by myself for over a week now. Katie is off searching for resources on Floor 24, she's not due back until next week. I haven't seen Tori in over 2 weeks, she's off doing god knows what and as for Kieran... '''Yazzy: '''Mr. Flaky '''Lizzy: '''He came by last week, the day after we cleared Floor 25, a few quick repairs for his sword and he was off again '''Yazzy: '''Sounds about right. I only every really see him on the front line and even then we're just fighting together. He's gone not long afterwards '''Lizzy: '''He comes down here a fair bit but never stays very long. '''Yazzy: '''He really went solo then '''Lizzy: '''Didn't we all? We all used to be a party for a while then you joined that guild, Katie and I set up our shop and Tori is trying out all different aspects of the game. We're all kinda solo really '''Yazzy: '''I guess you're right '''Lizzy: '''Listen, are we getting food or what ''Floor 22. Coral Lake Floor 22 is a peaceful floor. There's a lack of monsters and quests so not only is it a safe floor, it's also a quiet floor. The main floor's boss was also easy to defeat. All in all it took 3 days to clear the floor from the day it was unlocked. As the sun shone on the beautfully blue lake, as it slowly sunk into the ground, by the side on the green pasture, laid a boy, arms over his head, which in turn rested on his hands, his sword was sitting next to him, there was no need for it here. To Kieran, this was paradise and it was where he'd chosen to spend his evening. His peace was soon broken by the arrival of an old friend 'Tori: '''Didn't expect to see you here '''Kieran: '''Likewise '''Tori: '''I'm just exploring '''Kieran: '''I fell in love with this floor from the moment we first unlocked it. There's a log cabin not far from here that I've got my eye on, I can't afford it though so all I can do is save and then spend what time I can here. '''Tori: '''Never pegged you for the outdoorsy type. '''Kieran: '''I'm really not but I can't exactly hide in my bedroom and play video games can I? '''Tori: '''True '''Kieran: '''How's your game experience going? '''Tori: '''I'm still in how do you say, denial '''Kieran: '''Really? '''Tori: '''I keep trying to take my mind off things by trying all different things and avoiding the front line. I just keep expecting to wake up one day and I'm back in my room and everything's fine '''Kieran: '''You know it's only in the last month that the guild's have started getting bigger. There were a lot of people like you, who didn't want to accept it. It's only natural '''Tori: '''Doesn't it make me a coward? Everyone's fighting and I'm just here '''Kieran: '''You're not a coward, the fact that you're still here proves you're a fighter. 6 months trapped in a game is scary and yet you're still here. It doesn't matter that you're not on the front lines, lots of people aren't. There are other ways to help and if you're not ready now, then it's ok. '''Tori: '''Thanks ''Kieran stomach rumbles 'Tori: '''Hungry? '''Kieran: '''You can tell? ''They both chuckle '''Tori: '''There's a really good restaurant on the floor below, you wanna grab some food '''Kieran: '''Sure, let's go Category:Blog posts